10 Utterly Unconvincing Movie Couples

Our favorite of this week’s new theatrical releases is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Lorene Scafaria’s end-of-the-world comedy that deftly transcends what could have been a one-joke premise, turning instead unexpectedly poignant and moving. The key to that transition is the surprisingly effective romantic subplot between stars Steve Carell and Keira Knightley — and yes, we were as skeptical as you when that element of the picture began to reveal itself. But this is one of those cases where seemingly mismatched stars pair up well on-screen. Others haven’t been quite so lucky. After the jump, we remember a few of the cinema’s less believable movie couples.

The romance of first cousins Mary Coreleone and Vincent Mancini would have been tough to stomach had any actors played the roles; even with original choice Winona Ryder as Mary, there would have still been an oog-factor that director Francis Ford Coppola would’ve struggled to overcome. Ryder, of course, didn’t play the role — she dropped out at the last minute, and Coppola decided to cast his daughter Sofia in the role. So on top of all the weird incest stuff, we’ve also got a novice actor matched against the charisma machine that is Andy Garcia, though he seems visibly uncomfortable making out with the younger Coppola as her father watches off camera. The whole thing was a huge miscalculation, and one that ended up sinking an otherwise decent third installment of the Godfather saga.